noneofyourbusiness

I'm just glad I haven't wasted that $290 for the championships tickets I will not be using this year. I hear there are some killer baseball games that week.....

Personally, I think the Yamaha Younguns and the Bose Boys have the best shot at finals in 2009. Shame the Sony Singers haven't kept up with the latest and greatest technologies......

Wow, the reactions in this thread crack me up. I posted about this proposal in "The Future of Drum Corps" thread last Saturday and everyone just basically ignored it or told me that nobody would ever propose something like that. BTW, the wording previously posted is accurate.

Based on the document a friend emailed to me the other day, I can almost guarantee that the number of DCI corps will continue to decline. It was a copy of the "management structure change" proposal that will be voted on next weekend in Orlando. Basically, it will limit the voters to all DCI rule changes, etc. to just the previous year's top 9 corps. This will further restrict all of the power in DCI to the "supercorps" and make it harder and harder for the have-nots to survive. DCA will be the growth area for drum corps for the forseeable future IMHO.

Is that a hint, Mr. Blue Star?? (16 contras ?? )

There's another corps trying to raise funds in this thread: http://www.drumcorpsplanet.com/forums/inde...107868&st=0 Sounds like a worthy cause

You've never heard of Tim Kviz????? (Read this year's rules proposals. There are basically two names. George Hopkins and Tim).

Not The Cadets as a whole, just their "fearless leader". His usual assortment of insane rule changes will be pushed through by the other spineless Directors and torque off a fairly large percentage of the pre-BOA drum corps fans.

Uhhhhhhh, NO. Scott Johnson is Scott Johnson. God is God. (BTW, it is a shame that none of these threads mean diddly. The corps staffs have been ignoring the wishes, desires and preferrences of the fans for years. I really think they would not care at all if the fans just never showed up).

http://www.bluestars.org/story.php?story_id=449

Oops, computer went crazy. Mods, please close.

I agree. I hate to admit it, but I was almost amazed that they had the Open corps there. Maybe the powers that be at DCI are finally starting to listen!! I have to wonder if the rumors back in August of the II/III corps bolting to DCA finally woke them up.

Wonderful :( . And we get that for ten years? Really looking forward to that ...... NOT!

I know of some shows that already do this for the schools that house corps for their show. It seems to help convince the Band Directors to advertise the show more. I like the idea of the fraternal orgs helping. It may get more band kids from less wealthy areas to the shows.

The pants have to go. Solid blue would be my choice. A touch of red would also be nice. The guard uniform was the weakest aspect of the show. The idea was nice, but on the field you just lost them. The uniform from the year before (06) was much more effective and visually pleasing IMHO.

Actually, there are plenty of other corps, plus new corps, competing and performing out there, without any help or blessing from DCI. DCA is growing by one to several corps a year lately, plus there is the mini corps activity that is exploding with growth, and there is also the alumni corps "tour" that seems to be adding performance opportunities year after year. And if you'll notice, DCA is a big supporter of these other versions of corps, while DCI seems to want to shun most of them (particularly mini corps). IMHO, DCA is the one with an open view of the future, while DCI continues to shoot itself in the foot.

I wonder if they'll need to fly in some volunteers to help with sign-ins, food, etc. If so, pick me!! :)

I like that idea! All the pro sports now have a salary cap. How about the same thing for corps? A BUDGET CAP for all corps, regardless of placement. And they all share common revenue, like DCI souvie sales, equally (like pro sports share TV revenue). . . . . . . . . (I can hear the top 12 corps Directors screaming now :P ).

Actually, up until about 1979 or 1980, there were only a few corps that toured even 60% of the summer. Most corps did the "first tour-second tour" season. The first few weeks were spent competing on weekends around your local region in your local circuits (DCE, DCM, DCS, DCWest, Garden State, ODCA, etc.). Then you went on a 10-14 day DCI tour around your third of the country. Then there was another couple or three weeks of weekend regional circuit shows, then the 2-3 weeks of finals tour. Finals was always around the third week of August. If you look at the corpsreps.com website in the scores section, you can see this schedule with the breaks in between. During the weekend-only weeks, corps would stay "at home" and practice either evenings only, or at least a more relaxed schedule than today. Alot of members even had jobs when they were home. If the member was from out of town or state, they would either rent an apartment or stay with a local corps member.

Based on my experience, the two biggest road costs for a corps is still the cost of chartering or buying/maintaining busses, and the cost of fuel/tolls for all the vehicles. Most corps stop nightly for fuel, and the cost of filling one semi tractor today is around $400. So, two semis, plus the souvie truck, staff camper, van, whatever, add up to a pretty big chuck of $$$ every day. The charter costs are running into the high five-figures/low six-figures for many of the fulltime touring corps now. And, unfortunately, there is no way to get folks to donate charter days or fuel except in the form of cash. I've seen alot of folks who'll go out and buy a case of Gatoraid mix, 15 gallons of milk, or 40 lbs of ground beef for a corps, but would never consider buying a $100 fuel card.

Based on an analysis I read by one of the foremost Geologists in the world, one way or the other the corps will have to come up with a new touring plan soon. He stated that the Saudis, Omanians, Venezuelans, et al predictions of a 50-60 year supply of oil worldwide are way off. He predicts that all of the "economically retrievable" oil will be used up within 20 years at current rates of use and the expected increases in use, particularly in the "third world". He also had a chart that showed his predicted prices for gasoline and diesel from now until 2027, and the price within (3) years for a gallon of diesel was around $8.25/gallon in the USA :o . No corps will be able to afford today's touring model at those prices!

Yeah, what he said. My donation will be in the mail Friday (pay day). It may not be that much in the grand scheme of things, but if everyone can lay down $50 or $100......

1. I absolutely agree with the regional World Class touring option. This saves a tremendous amount of $$$, as the huge expense for any corps is the fuel and charter costs for busses. You lose out on souvie sales, but below the top 6 or so this does not matter, except for odd-ball cases like Madison. 2. Open Class is not a good economic option. These corps make virtually nothing per show in appearance fees (I heard an average of <$200 per show in '06). And souvie sales are virtually nonexistent at this level due to the small crowds. This lost revenue is not good for a corps with a big debt load already. This may be an option for corps coming back from inactive, but not a good one for corps already far in debt.

Soooooooooo......who "won"? :P

Sounds like alot of new faces in La Crosse too. Is this an unusually busy year for staff changes very early on? Seems like it to me.